What Happens in Brooklyn
by OriginalPippie
Summary: Donna gets a summer job opportunity and then she proposes a road trip to Brooklyn. While in Brooklyn, they meet up and get to know her cousin and his friends.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter one

As Hyde held Fez upside down by his ankles, Kelso dove to the floor to pick up the objects that fell from Fez's pockets. Kelso laughed and picked up a coin once it landed on the floor.

"Got a quarter!" He said, smiling brightly, as he held the coin up for Hyde to see

Hyde laughed and shook Fez a little "Let's see what else shakes loose."

A piece of hard candy dropped down and hit Kelso on the head. Kelso snatched it up with a laugh and began to unwrap it.

"Score! Free candy!"

Fez tried to snatch at the candy in Kelso's hand "Ay! My candy!"

Dancing a little, Kelso backed away and teased Fez with the candy. "What's the matter, Fez?" He laughed

"Give me my candy you son of a bitch!"

"You mean this candy?" Kelso held it towards Fez. Before Fez could grab it, though, Kelso popped it into his mouth with a mocking laugh.

Just at that moment, Eric walked down the stairs and stopped at the bottom to see what was happening. He frowned and shook his head.

"Come on guys. You can't do that to Fez."

He walked over to the shelf and grabbed the Green Bay Packers helmet. Walking over to Fez, he put the helmet on Fez's head and patted it in place to secure it.

"There you go, buddy. This way if Hyde drops you, your head will be protected."

"Oh I see how it is." Kelso said. "When Hyde has Fez by the ankles Fez gets a helmet. But when he does it to me, he makes sure to drop me straight on my head."

"That's because it's not as funny when Fez gets hurt." Hyde said with a slightly snorted scoff.

Donna and Jackie entered through the side door. Smiling, Donna crossed the room to the couch. "Guys I have-" she stopped and looked over at Hyde, who was still holding Fez upside down. "What the hell are you doing?"

"We're playing with the human Fez piñata." Hyde said "What else?"

"Um don't you normally hit piñatas with bats?" Jackie asked

Eric snapped his fingers, pointing at her. "Good call. Kelso get a bat."

"Oh awesome!" Kelso started to walk to the stairs "I always wanted an excuse to hit Fez with a bat!"

"Ay! Hyde put me down!" Fez squirmed, trying to break out of Hyde's grasp

Hyde laughed "Alright you big baby." He lowered Fez to the floor and let him go

As Fez stood, he took the helmet off and handed it to Kelso. Looking dejected, Kelso looked at everyone.

"Aw man. Does this mean we don't get to hit Fez with bats now?"

Hyde stepped closer to Kelso and patted the helmet "Hold onto that, Kelso." He walked over to his chair and sat down.

Donna watched as everyone took their seats. She looked at them with a smile. "Ok if everyone's through torturing Fez, I can finally go on with my big news." she paused to see she had their attention. "You guys wouldn't believe this amazing job opportunity I just got."

"Oh Donna, no one cares that you're going to fulfill your dreams of becoming a trucker." said Jackie with a roll of her eyes and a slight grunt. "You don't have to announce it."

Donna raised an eyebrow, showing her irritation. "Jackie. Stop telling everybody that." she rolled her eyes, shaking her head. "Anyway, before I was so rudely interrupted, I just got the chance to be a guest DJ at this radio station in Brooklyn for part of the summer. I'm going there in a couple weeks for an interview, but I figured, we'd all have free time then so why don't we all go on a road trip?" She smiled and danced giddily in her spot to show her excitement.

Jackie sat up with and excited smile "Brooklyn? Oh my God! That's in New York!"

"Um, well, yeah it is."

Jackie cut her off "Oh my God, I always wanted to go to New York! We'd get to see Broadway, and Times Square and-" She gasped "Think about all the shopping we could do!"

"Yeah, but Jackie, that's New York _City._ We're going to Brooklyn."

"Hey," Eric said as he got a Popsicle from the freezer "I hear Coney Island is nice this time of year." he unwrapped the Popsicle and looked at Jackie. "But if you want, we can drop you off on Broadway and the rest of us can hang out on the Coney Island boardwalk." He paused, ignoring the look Jackie gave him "It certainly would make _our_ vacation more enjoyable having you in another city."

"Yeah, but, Forman," Hyde said "Jackie's smart. Even if we dropped her off at Broadway, she might be able to fine her way into Brooklyn. Then what would we do once she ran into us?"

"We could always throw her off the Brooklyn Bridge." Donna replied, causing Jackie to give an offended huff. Donna, shook her head, with a small chuckle. "Alright. Kidding aside, what do you all say about this trip? I mean, I'm going no matter what, but it would make things a lot more fun if I had you guys with me."

"Donna, this trip idea sounds great." Eric said with a grin "Yeah we should really do this." His grin brightened as it spread to the others.

With everyone else in agreement, the excitement began to spread around the room. A buzz quickly emerged as they all came together to discuss their plans for the trip.

…

Gabe stood in front of the chalkboard with an eraser in his hand. As he began erasing the board, he started speaking to the class. He knew that as he spoke, none of his words were actually reaching the students, but he continued talking anyway. Part way through his speech, which he purposely made increasingly bizarre with each unbelievable line that went over the heads of his students, he turned to face the class. While doing this he saw the students were busy murmuring in their own conversations as well as busying themselves with their personal activities at their desks.

"Now, I know class is almost over, and you all are excited, but summer vacation doesn't start for a few more days. I still need you to pay attention to me for just a few more minutes."

"But Mr. Kotter." said Horshack "We are but young children, and excitement for the summer is in the air. And what may be a few days 'til vacation for you might as well be a few hours for us. We can listen to you tell jokes some other time."

Gabe grinned slightly to show he was a little amused by the student's reply. "So if that's how it is, then." He nodded "Well there really isn't much left in my lecture today that you could have learned… not that you'd actually learn it anyway." He walked over to his desk and sat on top of it. "Why don't we just take the rest of the class time here to discuss summer vacation? Your minds are already there anyway. For some of you, your minds have been on summer vacation since fifth grade."

Smirking, Epstein sat up some in his seat "Hey, now this is the kind of class discussion I can get into." He pointed a finger at Gabe "Y'know Mr. Kotter, if you had more class discussions like this one I'da been an A student by now."

"And miss out on having you in the eleventh grade for the next four years? Why didn't I think of that sooner?" Gabe asked with sarcastic excitement

"Right on. But here's a better thought, Mr. Kah-tare." Freddie said "Why don't we skip discussion and head straight fo' summer vacation?" he finished with a slick grin

With Freddie's cue, all four Sweathogs got up and started to leave the room. Vinnie, last in line, smiled and patted Gabe on the shoulders.

"Don't worry, Mr. Kotter. We'll send you a postcard." he said, before stepping out the door with the other three guys.

"Would you guys get back in here?!"

Back tracking, all in a line, the four of them entered the room. They lined up in front of Gabe's desk, each giving a testing grin, further irritating the teacher. Not amused, Gabe tilted his head, jerking it towards the students' desks, signaling them to sit down. Taking note to the fact that Gabe was actually serious, they took his cue and went back to their seats. Satisfied with his seated students, Gabe continued with his lesson, squeezing the last bits as best as he could into the remaining minutes of the class.

"Now," said Gabe once his lesson was finished "Since we clearly all are in the summer vacation mood, why don't we take the time we have left in class to talk about what we plan on doing for summer vacation."

"Aw do we gotta, Mr. Kotter?" Vinnie asked

"Yeah. The bell's 'bout to ring any minute and Vinnie's got all he can to manage all the dates he got lined up. Just for this week. Am I right, Vinnie?" Epstein reached over and slapped Vinnie's back.

"Actually I ain't got no dates yet."

"What?" Gabe asked in surprise "Do my ears deceive me or did Vincent Barbarino actually say he doesn't have any dates for the summer?"

"Hey! I said I ain't got dates _yet_." Vinnie smiled proudly. "But that's only because I told the girls they'd have to wait a couple weeks. See, I got my cousin from Wisconsin visiting me the first couple weeks of summer and she says she's coming with some friends." He leaned back in his seat, placing his hands folded together behind his head. "Might be nice to get some out of town action for a change."

"Hold up." Freddie held up his hands and shook his head. "Vinnie you ain't plannin' on messin' 'round with yo cousin, are you?"

"What?" Vinnie frowned "Freddie you know me better than that! Please. Ain't nobody touchin' my cousin while she's here. Especially none of you turkeys. I was talkin' about her friends!"

"Yeah, yeah sure, sure." Epstein said "Barbarino if you ain't letting nobody go after your cousin then you gotta let us take a crack at her friends."

He and Freddie laughed while slapping each other a five.

"Yeah. Vinnie jus' how many friends is yo cousin bringing with her?"

"She didn't say how many or who she was bringing with her. But I'm guessing there'll be enough for you, me and Epstein to take cracks at them."

The three of them laughed and gave each other fives in celebration of their newly anticipated summer hijinks. Horshack, though clearly disappointed, sat up and leaned forward towards Vinnie's seat.

"But Vinnie why'd you leave me out? Huh? Don't I get a crack at nobody? Why is it every time there's plans to be with girls, I always get left out? What am I supposed to do while the three of you spend time with the girls?"

"Hey don't sweat it, Horshack." Epstein said "While we're with the girls, you can watch our stuff."

"Oh?" Horshack asked "But little Juan, what makes you so sure one of these girls will want to be with you when you're a sheephead?"

This infuriated Epstein, causing him to bolt to his feet. As he chased Horshack out of the room, the bell to end class rang. Gabe had no choice but to dismiss the rest of the students before he could peek into the hallway to check on Epstein and Horshack.

"Come on Epstein!" he called out "Let Arnold out of your locker! He will be smothered to death by your gym socks!" He shook his head, turning his eyes up to the ceiling as though to ask 'what am I going to do?'


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter two

"Great! Thanks a lot. I can't wait to see you again." Donna glanced at her friends while listening to her cousin on the phone. "Yeah, great. Say hello to your parents for me. Again, thank you so much. See you next week!"

Donna hung up the phone and then happily joined her friends. She sat in the remaining empty chair at the table.

"Everything is all set. So we'll be staying with my aunt and uncle. My cousin insisted that there is plenty of room for all of us and not to worry. If not, then one of his buddies said they would take in someone for a night or two." She frowned a little, realizing. "I never met any of his friends before. I hope they're cool and not like dangerous or anything."

"Why would they be dangerous?" Eric asked, a little nervously. "They're not going to mug us or anything are they?"

"Well I mean, they do live in kinda a bad neighborhood. It is Brooklyn, a big city after all."

"Besides. If these guys don't mug us, someone else probably will." Hyde said nonchalantly

"Great. Now I'm going to have to pack my light saber." Eric said.

"Eric, you do know your light saber is just a toy right? It's not actually going to protect you like it would in the movie." Donna replied

"For the last time, it is not a toy." Eric rolled his eyes. "It is a collector's item."

"Then why do you play with it?" Hyde asked

"I do not play with it!"

Kelso laughed, pointing at Eric. "You do too! I saw you last week! You were swinging it around and making the noises!"

Eric stared at Kelso and waved his hand in a slow circle in front of him. "You didn't see a thing."

Donna patted him on the shoulder. "And again, the Jedi mind trick is not real. Besides, you'd have to use it on someone with a mind in order for it to work."

"That's true." Eric said. "Then again, there was that one time when Obi Wan Kenobi went up to that storm trooper and-"

"Enough with the Star Wars talk!" Fez complained. "I want to talk about the trip and all the Brooklyn girls I'll get to meet."

"Yeah, Eric. Nobody cares about stupid Star Wars." Jackie rolled her eyes. "Fez is right. We need to talk about important things about the trip. Like all the cute outfits I'm going to buy when we get to go shopping in New York."

"As much as I love talking about Jackie's clothes and Fez's sad attempts at romance," Donna said, "we really need to discuss all the potential fun things we can do while in Brooklyn."

The others, in aggrievance, joined in with her on a conversation abut the upcoming trip. Right in the middle of their excitement, Bob entered the kitchen and headed for the refrigerator.

"Don't mind me. Just grabbing a sandwich." He paused and looked at Donna. "Hey Donna, did I hear you talking on the phone a minute ago?"

"Yeah dad. I was talking to Vinnie about our trip. He said to tell you hello."

"Aw jeeze." Bob said with disappointment. "You were talking long distance to family and you didn't come get me? I haven't talked to the Barbarinos in a long time." He paused and then motioned towards the phone. "And you mean to tell me you made a long distance call without checking with me first? I ain't payin' for the charges even if it was family you called."

"Don't worry, I called him collect. And sorry, dad, next time I'll come get you so you can say hello."

"Wish you had. I have this Tom Jones impression I've been working on and I bet Vinnie would have liked to hear it."

"You bet, dad."

"Hey wait a minute." Kelso said, looking confused "You were calling me stupid earlier, weren't you?"

The rest of the teenagers laughed, making more jokes at Kelso's expense. Some of them even threw random small things from the table at him, causing his anger to begin rising. The laughter and Kelso's anger managed to quickly settle down in no time, and then they went right back into their conversation about the trip.

…

Vinnie and Freddie stood there, bored and unamused as they listened to Horshack drone on with a story. The story that Horshack was telling seemed to not have an end or point. Listening to this story was just as bad as listening to one of Gabe's tired old uncle jokes, It didn't help matters since they were also anxiously awaiting for Epstein's arrival so that they could start their fun. Waiting for Epstein was never more torturous as it was right then. But they had the feeling that his late arrival was going to come with a great story that would make everything worth it.

"Hey Vinnie." Freddie said, cutting off Horshack's story. "While we're waitin' on Epstein, why don't you tell me about yo' cousin and her friends?" he finished with a slick grin while he touched his teeth with the tip of his tongue.

"Oh yeah Donna. Well she's my cousin so naturally, she's tall and good looking like me. Oh but there's bad news. Yeah it turns out that out of the friends she's bringing with her, only one of them is a chick."

"You mean we gotta hang with Wisconsin dudes?"

"Yeah yeah I know it's pretty lame. But there'll be one extra chick besides Donna, so that'll have to do."

"Oh but Vinnie." Horshack pipped up. "You said before that your cousin was off limits to us."

"Thanks a lot for remindin' him, Arnold." Freddie shook his head "Now that means we gotta fight over one chick when we coulda had two."

"We'll get by. Let's just hope none of the Wisconsin dudes has dibs on this chick. But in case of that emergency, I can easily find chicks for the rest of us." Vinnie finished with a smile.

Freddie frowned "Yeah but they Brooklyn chicks. I was lookin' forward to some Wisconsin action."

"Hey aren't you still daitin' Vernajean?" Vinnie asked

"Oh right, right. But don't mean I can't check out the Wisconsin chick when she's here." He laughed

Vinnie looked down the boardwalk. "Well that don't matter. Here comes Epstein."

Right on cue, Epstein strolled up to the three of them. His usual bouncy swagger was present in his stride. Slung over his shoulder was a pair of red speedos. He smiled at his friends, laughing a little, as he approached them.

"Buenos afternoon, gentlemen. Buenos afternoon. Sorry I'm late, but I had some business to attend to."

"Hey Epstein where you been?" Freddie asked "We've been waitin' here for you forever."

"Yeah we've been waiting to have some fun. Don't have much time before my cousin gets into town tonight." Vinnie said

"If you knew you was going to be late, did you at least bring a note from your mother?" Horshack asked.

"A note? Nah. We ain't in school." Epstein waved him off. "But listen, you guys are going to love this." He laughed a little. "I was down on the beach and who do I run into? Todd Ludlow. See he's standin' there, getting ready to go in the water, and he's wearin' these tight red speedos."

"Like the ones you got over your shoulder?" Vinnie asked, pointing them out.

"The very same!" Epstein smiled. "I said hey Ludlow what're you doin' modeling a pair of kids swim trunks for? He started to get mad then this wave came along and splashes him. I start laughing. He gets even madder. Next thing I know I've got a rematch against him."

"A rematch?" Freddie asked "You mean a rematch from the time he kicked yo butt!" He started laughing.

Epstein frowned, offended. "Hey he had a lucky punch. I just happened to not be payin' attention."

Vinnie laughed "He totally beat you down."

"Alright alright! Anyway, I got my chance to get him back. When he swung at me, I ducked this time. Then I took him by surprise and punched him right in the nose. While he was down on the ground, holding his face y'know," he took the speedo off his shoulder and displayed it. "I took these." He laughed. "I took off before he knew what happened!"

"So in other words you chickened out and ran." Horshack said with a grin.

Epstein frowned "No! Weren't you payin' attention? I knocked him down, stole his little swim suit and then I ran! Hey it ain't like he's going to come after me naked!"

Epstein's laughter was infectious. The laughter led them down the boardwalk and into a conversation about their planned summer fun. Their excitement abruptly ended once they had to break to news to Epstein about the severe lack of Wisconsin chicks that was going to be there that week. Fortunately, the disappointment didn't last long as they quickly segued into having fun, officially beginning their summer plans.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter three

Everyone stepped onto the Coney Island Boardwalk, prepared for the adventure of a lifetime. Each of them expressed varying degrees of excitement as they walked and explored, taking in all the sights. Kelso held an everlasting childlike wonder as he looked in all directions with an open-mouthed smile. Fez immediately asked about the best places to find candy or even carnival type snacks. Jackie pondered about shopping areas, but scrunched up her face in disgust over the idea of the only stores along the boardwalk involved tourists and souvenirs.

Hyde hung back a few feet from the rest of the group, scoping out the area from behind his sunglasses. He stood for a moment, thumbs in the belt loops of his jeans, and he gazed around as though he was trying to find something that would impress him. His Zen-like cool surrounded him and covered his real excitement of being in a big city that would bring him near cool people such as Lou Reed.

Eric, while excited, desperately tried to hide his giddiness. He thought that if he could play it cool then he would have an easy time impressing the Brooklyn people and not coming across like a tourist. This failed the moment he saw a souvenir shop with a Star Wars themed Coney Island trinket.

Donna gazed around the area, trying to contain her own giddiness. Playing it cool was much easier for her as she took in all the sights. She knew she would have to keep her cool if she were to keep a look out for her cousin. He had left that morning to meet up with his friends and he told Donna to meet up with them on the boardwalk. She just had no idea how difficult it would be to keep everyone moving in the same direction together and not get swept away in the crowd. She was going to make the most out of this trip, even if it meant having to constantly wrangle her friends every step of the way. At first, her silent search for her cousin seemed daunting and quite hopeless due to the size of the crowd on the boardwalk, as well as her lack of knowledge of the area when it came to navigating through it. Luckily for her, and her friends, Vinnie spotted them.

"Hey Pinciotti!" He called out.

Donna looked ahead and grinned. "Barbarino!" She waved at him and then looked back to wave her friends along. "Come on I see Vinnie up ahead."

They followed Donna, weaving through the crowd, until they reached where her cousin and his friends stood. When they got there, Donna and Vinnie laughed and hugged, greeting each other. Vinnie put an arm around her shoulders and then they faced his friends.

"Everybody I'd like you to meet my cousin Donna."

Epstein looked her up and down. His eyes were slightly widened and a smirk spread across his lips. "Hey Vinnie they sure grow them tall and good looking in your family. Don't they?"

"Yeah and they grow 'em the opposite way in yours." Freddie laughed.

His laugh quickly grew scarce and his demeanor suddenly changed to become a bit more serious. He stepped closer to Donna and gave her a slick smile. "Hi there. The name's Freddie Boom Boom Washington. And the pleasure is all mine." He went to kiss her hand but stopped when he heard the next voice behind him.

"Freddie you better keep that pleasure to yourself unless you want to be home in bed nursing your broken bones." Vernajean, standing right behind him, said while looking none too pleased.

Freddie dropped Donna's hand, rose his own hands near his head and backed away from her. "Right, right."

Vinnie grinned and then looked toward the girls. "Yeah, and that's Vernajean, Freddie's girlfriend. And," Vinnie took Rosalie by the hand and brought her forward. "This is Rosalie Totsy."

Donna smiled "Oh yeah you've told me about her."

"Hi Hotsy!" The four Point Place guys called out together.

With a slight laugh, Donna shook Rosalie's hand. "Nice to meet you, Hotsy."

Rosalie looked at Vinnie, frowning lightly. "What? You even told Wisconsin about that name?"

"Not all of Wisconsin. Just Donna. And now her friends know too. But that part you can't blame on me." Vinnie said with a grin.

"Yeah thanks a lot for nothin'." She rolled her eyes.

"Not like they weren't thinking it already." Epstein chimed in. He then looked over at Jackie, catching her eye. He smirked a little at her.

Vinnie stepped closer to Epstein and used his shoulder as an arm rest. Epstein quickly moved it off. "This is Epstein." Vinnie grinned

Epstein stepped forward, closer to Jackie and took her by the hand. "That's Juan Louis Pedro Felipo de Huevos Epstein. From San Juan." He kissed her hand. "At your service."

Jackie pulled her hand away with a grimace. "Eeewww! He's Mexican!"

"Jackie, San Juan is in Puerto Rico." Donna said

"Whatever it's still gross."

"Funny." Said Hyde. "I never knew Epstein was a Puerto Rican name."

"It ain't." Epstein grinned. He placed one hand over his heart and held up the other hand. Before he spoke again, he dropped all traces of Hispanic tones from his speech and added more of a Jewish tone. "It is one of the oldest and proudest Jewish names in these parts."

Again, Jackie grimaced. "Eeew! He's Puerto Rican and Jewish!"

Epstein turned towards his friends, confused. "What I do?"

"Please excuse my friend Jackie." Said Donna. "She doesn't know any better because she's a bitch.

"Jackie, eh?" Epstein smirked, looking at Jackie again. "Yeah I ain't gettin' anywhere with her while they're here."

"Yeah, Kelso isn't going to get anywhere with her either, and he dated her for two years." Hyde spoke up before laughing a little.

"And which one of you is Kelso?" Freddie asked

"That would be me!" Kelso waved before stepping forward. "What a city, huh? This'll be a great place to get discovered by a talent scout. Bet it would happen while I'm here with my whole Travolta vibe."

The Sweathogs gave him dirty looks, in disbelief over what he had said. Vinnie, unable to make sense of it, started laughing.

"You? A Travolta vibe? Oh man." He placed a hand on Kelso's shoulder and laughed some more. "Listen, I'm practically the guy's twin and I ain't been discovered yet. There's no way you will get discovered before me, especially when you're walkin' around my city."

The others laughed while Kelso took a disappointed step back. Letting his laughter fade, Vinnie then went over to Horshack.

"Alright, alright let's get back to introductions here. Well I guess the last one of my friends here is," he brought Horshack close and wrapped an arm around his shoulders, "Horshack."

Horshack looked at the others with a bit of a shy grin. "Hello. How are ya? I'm Arnold Horshack." he finished his statement by entering his laugh.

Eric giggled "Oh man!" he giggled again "That's the nerdiest laugh I ever heard! How did all of you get to be friends with such a nerd?"

Freddie looked him up and down with a disapproving frown. "Looks like we might be sayin' the same 'bout yo' friends and you."

Epstein stepped forward towards Eric, and got right in his face. "Hey. You makin' fun of my friend Horshack here?" he clenched his fists. "Because nobody does that and lives, long as I'm around."

"Hey!" Hyde stepped forward. "You leave Forman alone. He's my Horshack."

Epstein looked at Hyde. "And who are you?"

"I'm Hyde."

"What is this?" Rosalie asked "Battle of the body guards?"

"Yeah." Vernajean added "Why don't you two turkeys break it up. We're supposed to be making friends, not starting up some kind of turf war on the boardwalk."

Epstein stepped away from Eric, and then he and Hyde relaxed their tough attitudes and laughed. Epstein and Hyde even gave each other a slick handshake, declaring that they were going to like getting to know each other.

"Oh well I guess that's everybody." Donna said

"Everybody?" Fez asked, taking a step forward, offended. "So you're going to forget Fez as always?"

"Oh Fez! I'm sorry! Come here." She brought him closer to her. "Everybody, this is Fez."

"What kind of name is Fez?" Vinnie asked

"Well it's not his real name." Donna replied. "We can't pronounce his real name so we call him Fez. Sort of… well short for foreign exchange student."

Fez grinned. "Yes my real name is-"

Right as he was speaking, a nearby store blasted loud music out the door, so loud that it completely drowned out what Fez was saying. Coincidentally, as he finished, someone closed the door and the music no longer could be heard.

"Yeah I ain't going to remember that." Vinnie said "Probably good that they call you Fez."

"What?" Epstein asked, confused and looking at the other Sweathogs. "He actually heard that?"

"Ok good." Donna said "looks like all the introductions are done. Vinnie, how about you and your friends show us around Coney Island? We're all dyin' to have some fun. Been a long trip from Wisconsin you know."

Vinnie grinned, flashing his dimples. "Sure. Let's go. We know all the best places here."

The two groups joined together, talking as they headed down the boardwalk. The Sweathogs immediately jumped into the tour guide role, leading the others to their favorite spots in Coney island. As they went to their cherished spots together, they all felt the same thing. Even though they had all just met, they could tell that they would become great friends during the time that they would have together.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter four

When Vinnie and Donna had arrived outside of an apartment building, Donna immediately became confused. She asked him if the radio station was inside, commenting on what a strange location for a radio station this would be. Vinnie laughed nd then replied that this was just a detour. There was someone special to him that he wanted her to meet. With a small smile, she agreed and then she began heading for the building's entracnce. Before she could head up the steps, Vinnie grabbed her and steered her in a different direction.

"Not that way! Come on. I have a special entrance. This way." He pointed up at something along the side of the building.

Donna frowned, confused and unsure. "The fire escape?"

"Trust me. It's faster. Just follow me. I do this all the time."

"Alright, well you know best." She grinned a little.

Donna was confused and curious as she followed Vinnie up the fire escape. The entire time, she wondered where he possibly could have been taking her. She also wondered why they couldn't take the stairs inside like normal people. When they reached a particular window, Vinnie peeked into the apartment before tapping on the window. A few moments later, a man came to the window and opened it.

"Why if it isn't Vinnie Barbarino!" Gabe exclaimed with a grin and slight laugh in his voice. "What's the matter, Vinnie? You miss being in school so much that you came to see me?"

"Very funny." Vinnie said, not amused. He casually climbed in through the window. "Actually I just dropped by because there's someone I'd like you to meet."

Julie walked over, joining them, and she smiled. "Oh? Don't tell me you brought a girlfriend here."

Vinnie frowned. "No." He turned to call out the window. "Hey Donna!"

"Well if it's not a girlfriend, then some guy out there has a very feminine name." Gabe joked.

Vinnie helped Donna inside and then they turned to face Gabe and Julie.

"Mr. Kotter, Mrs. Kotter. This is my cousin Donna. She's here visiting from Wisconsin."

"Oh this is the cousin you mentioned?" Gabe grinned and then moved in to shake Donna's hand. "Well nice to meet you, Donna. I'm Gabe, this is my wife Julie."

Donna grinned, greeting them both. "Nice to meet both of you. Though I'm not exactly sure why I'm meeting you."

"Donna, Mr. Kotter is my teacher. He teaches all us Sweathogs." Vinnie said "Well, sorta." He waved his hand, emphasizing his point.

"Oh really?" Donna looked at Gabe. "What do you teach?"

"Well I try to teach the Sweathogs to use the door when they come here. But in school I teach social studies."

"That's great!" Donna smiled "I love social studies." Her eyebrows pushed together in confusion. "Wait. You mean they all come over here? What so you can tutor them or something?"

"No." Julie said with a painful grin. "They just come here to hang out. A lot. Sometimes it's like they never leave." She laughed. "They practically live here."

"Really?" Donna looked at Vinnie. "That's, um, that's really weird. I mean there are some teachers back home I admire more than others. But I'd never want to spend time with them in their home. Or anywhere outside of school really."

"Hey." Vinnie said, a bit offended. "Mr. Kotter is the first teacher that ever really meant anything to me and my friends. We don't learn much from him in the classroom, but if not for him, we all would've dropped out of school by now." He grinned a little, looking at Gabe. "Besides. He's more than our teacher. He's our friend."

"That's a nice thought and all, and don't get me wrong, I'm glad you finally were able to connect with a teacher, Vinnie. But, still, coming to your teacher's apartment all the time, that's weird."

Julie laughed "Thank you! Finally someone who understands! Donna you have no idea how much I've wanted to say that."

"Well good thing I came here then." Donna smiled

"Now Donna," Gabe said, taking a step closer to her. "You may not understand my close relationship with my students. But what I would like to know is, are there other people in your family as smart as you seem?"

"Um," Donna laughed a little, "no, not really. I mean everybody in our family is pretty dumb, unfortunately. On both sides actually. But I guess I was lucky. I guess you can say I became the smart sheep of the family."

Gabe chuckled. "Smart sheep. I like that. Hey Donna, speaking of family. I've got this uncle-"

Julie placed a hand on Gabe's shoulder, stopping him. "Gabe. I don't think Donna came all the way from Wisconsin to hear one of your uncle jokes."

"Just one little joke?"

"No, Gabe."

"What's wrong with his jokes?' Donna asked

Vinnie waved his hand. "Trust us. You don't want to hear it. You'll never forgive me if I let you hear one of them."

"That bad, huh? Well I guess I'll take your word for it. Oh hey, Vinnie, we better be going. I've got that interview, remember?"

"Oh right, right. Well Mr. Kotter, Mrs. Kotter, we gotta split. I promised I'd get her to the radio station on time."

"Radio station?"

"Oh yeah." Donna grinned. "I'm interviewing for a summer job there. See in Wisconsin I work at a local radio station. Recently started an on air gig under the name of Hot Donna. I'm hoping to bring Hot Donna over here for the summer. They're interviewing me over at the Bad Lands to see how well I do. If they like me then I'd be a guest DJ for a couple weeks next month."

"Oh wow!" Julie exclaimed, impressed. "That's great, Donna, real great. I hope you get the job. Then maybe we'll see you again."

"Thanks. I'd love to stay longer to get to know Vinnie's teacher and his wife. Which is still weird. But we really must be going." She looked at Vinnie. "I assume the way we came in?"

"Right. Ladies first." He helped her out the window. "See you later Mr. Kotter, Mrs. Kotter."

"Later Vinnie." Gabe said, watching Vinnie climb out the window. He called out after him. "Nice to meet you, Donna! Oh and Vinnie if you bring her by again, use the door! It's that big rectangle thing with the silver knob!"

…

Vinnie walked Donna into the radio station, where Freddie was waiting for them. Freddie had just finished his segment on the air and left the booth to greet the two new arrivals. Before greeting him, Vinnie stepped back and said he had to leave for a little while, and left Donna in Freddie's hands.

Donna smiled. "Wow, hey! Vinnie didn't tell me you work here."

"Yeah I normally come here after school for a few hours. I'll have longer shifts now I'm out of school for the summer." He grinned slickly. "It's a great gig. Haven't had it long but I dig it."

"Cool. Maybe we'll get to work together if I get this job. But it'll only be a couple weeks."

"That's be coo'. Maybe we can be a team." He laughed a little "Yeah yeah and we can come up with cool nicknames for us like Dark Chocolate and, uh, Big Red."

Donna laughed a little. "Um, maybe we can work on that. But hey, I already here in on air name at the radio station where I work back home."

"Oh yeah? What is it?"

She laughed, blushing a little "It's Hot Donna."

"Yeah." He grinned. "You sure are."

It was right then when Wally the Wow stepped out of the booth. He greeted both of them, stepping closer to Donna.

"Wally the Wow, nice to meet you." He shook her hand. "You must be Donna. I've heard a lot about you from your current boss at-"

"The Sound. Right." Donna nodded. She looked at him a bit confused. "Excuse me. I don't mean to stare. But you look an awful lot like my boss back home. Only he's older. You even sound alike. It's pretty uncanny."

"You're from Wisconsin, right?" Donna confirmed by nodding. "That would be my uncle. If he wasn't so much older than me, people would swear we were twins. See I took after him in and outside of the business. He taught me everything I know about radio."

"Oh that's cool." She said, impressed "Well I hope he put in a real good word for me." She smiled.

"Oh he has. Come sit over here, Donna. We'll get on with this interview. But I can tell you already that your chances here are great."

"Great! I'm real excited!"

They walked over to the table and sat down. Freddie came over and placed a hand on Donna's shoulder. "Hey listen, I'ma take off. Let me know how your interview goes. See you later on at the boardwalk."

"Right. Later, Freddie." She smiled.

Freddie smiled back, giving her a small wave before ducking out of the room. As soon as they were alone, Wally the Wow and Donna began the interview. Donna kept her cool and remained professional the entire time. But on the inside she could not ignore her excitement. Excitement over the potential summer job. Excitement over meeting new friends. And excitement for the plans they al had for that night. It already seemed to her that her road trip idea was turning out much better than she originally thought it would.


	5. Chapter 5

*Note: I have no idea what season this is for either show. I've sort of mixed bits and pieces of seasons together.

Chapter five

The stars were coming out and the moon was already shining bright in the clear summer night sky. Lights and sounds from the Coney Island attractions swept through to illuminate the beach below and create a noisy backdrop, countering the calm water coming up to the shore. There weren't very many people out that night, so this made the beach the perfect peaceful spot for the group of teenagers to hang out and get to know each other better. As the group made it to the best spot possible, Vinnie took it upon himself to make an announcement before they started their fun.

"Listen up! Alright. Now we all know we came here tonight to show our new friends from Wisconsin a good time while they're here." The others began hooting and making obnoxious comments. Vinnie quieted them down again. "I ain't finished yet! We're here to have fun, get to know each other. And now we're here for another reason." He put an arm around Donna. "I just want to be the first to congratulate Donna on her new summer job at the Bad Lands!"

Donna let out a small laugh. "But I won't find out until tomorrow if I got the job."

Freddie leaned in closer to her. "Don't worry. You're in."

"How do you know?" She asked

"I spoke to Wally. He said yo' the only one who applied. The interview was just a formality."

"Wait. What? You mean I had the job before I even interviewed for it?"

Freddie grinned. "Yeah."

Donna couldn't contain her excitement. She let out a giddy shriek as she wrapped her arms around Freddie's neck and shoulders. Slightly embarrassed, she pulled away and apologized to him.

"Hey no sweat." Freddie said with a grin. "You deserve to be excited."

Eric walked over to Donna, smiling. "Donna that's great news!" he brought her into a hug.

"I know! I've never been more excited!" She kissed him and then jumped a little in her spot, still high on giddiness.

"So that means you'll be here for two weeks… and I'll be home just hanging in the basement and working at Price Mart." He frowned a little in realization.

"Don't worry, Eric. The two weeks will go by fast. I'll be home before you know it." She wrapped her arms around him, pulling him close. "And when I come home we'll get to make up for lost time." She kissed him.

Epstein stepped towards them, looking confused. "Wait a minute now. Wait a minute." He pointed a finger at them. "You mean to tell me the two of you are dating?"

Horshack started laughing. "You and her?!" he laughed some more.

Donna placed a hand on her hip and frowned, offended. "Yeah, Eric and I are dating. What's it to you?"

Horshack suddenly stopped laughing and appeared serious. "Nothing. You've a lovely couple."

Eric shook his thumb towards Horshack. "Is he always like this?"

"Him?" Epstein shook his head. "Nah. He's only like that every day of his life."

"Oh I see." Donna said pitifully. "I'm so sorry you guys have to put up with that."

"Eh," Epstein shrugged "We get by."

Right then, someone had suggested that they do something fun to help them get to know each other better. Someone else had commented that the best way for them to get to know each other was to sit and talk in a circle. The Point Place guys gave each other knowing smirks before sharing with the others what they always did while in circles. That was enough to bring everyone together to form a circle in the sand.

Freddie reached one hand up to his head and pulled a small joint from behind his ear. "During school I keep pencils there." He lit the joint and smiled, touching the tip of his tongue to his teeth. "But in the summertime I keep these." He took the first hit and then passed the joint.

"Hold up Boom Boom." Vernajean said, disappointed. "You mean you brought one measly joint for all of us to share? Shit, that little thing won't even make it half way 'round the circle before it becomes a roach!"

"Don't worry, I got more." Epstein and Hyde spoke in unison. They looked at each other, starting to laugh before giving each other a slick low five.

Vinnie hit the joint then handed it to Kelso. He held the smoke in for a moment before letting it out slowly. "So this is what you guys do for fun in Wisconsin?"

"Yeah isn't it great?" Kelso laughed and then took the joint form Vinnie. "Only we normally do it in Forman's smelly basement."

"My basement doesn't smell." Eric frowned.

"Right. Tell that to the dead rats in my bedroom." Hyde said, causing the others to laugh.

"What are you talking about?" Fez asked "I think his basement smells pleasant."

Eric looked at him before taking the joint from the person next to him. "Thank you Fez."

"I wouldn't take that as a complement coming from Fez." Said Jackie with a grimace. "After all he is the guy always choking us to death on the gallon of cologne he bathes in every day. And it's not even the good cologne!"

"That's what that smell is?" Rosalie asked, scrunching up her nose. "All this time I thought dead seals washed up on the shore again."

"Wait. You think his cologne smells like dead seals?" Donna asked with a frown. She then laughed. "Ok maybe it does."

"You know?" Horshack chimed in. "I don't mind the smell of his cologne at all. Anything's better than Epstein's gym locker." He laughed.

Epstein frowned. "Alright. If you value your life at all, you'd stop laughing before you wind up in my gym locker."

This caused Horshack to stop laughing abruptly with a cough attached at the end. After a few beats of awkward silence, everybody began laughing and returned to the circle activity. Donna looked around the circle, focusing mainly on their searing arrangements. Sa she did, she noticed how everyone seemed to be seated, inadvertently, next to their best equal match.

Vinnie and Kelso were practically in the same spot, matching their lack of whit and comparing their experiences with girls. Epstein and Hyde were also seated next to each other as they became heavily immersed with wild conspiracy theories. Freddie, with Vernajean on his lap, sat on Hyde's other side. The couple remained occupied within their own world.

Next to them was Horshack, who was completely enthralled in Eric's Star Wars stories. Fez sat on the other side of Eric. He was busy unwrapping a piece of hard candy and complaining that nobody cared about Star Wars. Next to him was the three girls. Donna was stuck in the middle while Rosalie and Jackie practically leaned over her to share the latest gossip from New York and Wisconsin.

Donna, feeling uncomfortable, (not just because of sitting in the middle of girly gossip time) frowned as she looked at everyone. She then blinked in realization.

"Whoa." She said, gaining everyone else's attention. "Is it just me or is anyone else creeped out by these seating arrangements?" They all looked at each other before looking at her in confusion. "Seriously. This is kind of eerie."

With that statement, everyone else not only realized she was right, they had also collectively stood up, leaving their seats. They then decided together it was best to move on to other things. They also agreed that, the next circle they had, they would pay closer attention to where they sat, so they wouldn't have a repeat of this moment.

…

Donna and Jackie sat near the water, watching the waves gently roll in and out while moonbeams made sparkles within the water ripples. They talked with each other while relaxing peacefully under the night sky.

Epstein strolled up to them and casually sat next to Jackie. She kept her eyes on the water, taking no notice to who was beside her.

"Isn't this romantic?" Jackie asked, dreamily.

"Yeah yeah. Sure sure." Epstein held a slight grin upon his lips as he looked toward the water. "This happens to be one of my favorite spots in Coney Island."

"I can see why. It's beautiful here."

"Well what do you say," he wrapped an arm around her shoulders, "we let together and make this place even more beautiful?"

She looked at him and frowned in disgust. "Ugh it's you!" She shoved his arm off her.

"Aw come on!" He grinned playfully. "Just give me a chance!" He leaned in an whispered something in her ear.

Jackie, greatly offended, slapped him across the face and then stormed off, leaving him dumbfounded. Stunned, he shook it off and then let out a sigh. He then moved closer to Donna and wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

"So Donna. You ever wonder what it would be like with a Puerto Rican Jew?"

Though a bit amused, Donna took his arm off her. "I can't believe you!"

"What?" He asked, laughing slightly.

"You just hit on my friend like some skeezy pig. And when it didn't go your way you tried hitting on me!"

"What's wrong with that?"

"What's wrong- oh ugh!" Flustered, Donna got up and walked away, following Jackie.

Epstein looked toward them. "I don't want either of you any way! Can't tell when a guy is just messin' around!" He shook his head and then looked toward the water.

Reaching into his shirt pocket, he took out a lighter and a pack of cigarettes. He looked into the pack, frowning over how few were left. Taking a cigarette out of the pack, he stuck it between his lips and lit it. As he took his first puff on it, Freddie came over and sat next to him.

"Smokin' again? Thought you quit."

"Yeah yeah. It's a helluva habit to break." Epstein puffed on it again and then slowly let out a cloud of smoke.

"Hey, I saw what happened, man." Freddie said. "Wasn't a cool move, even for you."

"Yeah I know."

"Why'd you do it? Especially with Donna, you know she got a boyfriend."

Epstein shrugged a little. "Well y'know. Always been hard for me to get rejected. Thought I'd make the situation worse."

"You ain't ever gonna get Jackie."

"I know. Had to try anyway."

"An' you blew it."

"I don't get it, y'know? The moment she laid eyes on me she hated me."

"So why you want to get with her?"

Epstein shrugged. He puffed on his cigarette. "Turns me on. The whole challenge thing."

"Man is she ever a challenge." Freddie shook his head. "Ain't ever gonna happen." He stood up.

"Yeah yeah." Epstein waved off Freddie's statement.

"Hey man you joining the rest of us?"

"In a minute. Just want to finish my smoke first."

"Coo'. Good luck with Jackie."

Epstein grinned at Freddie while watching him walk away. He grumbled to himself and then looked at the water while smoking his cigarette.

…

After a little while, the group collectively decided they needed something more to spice up their fun. A few of the guys had left on a beer run. Once they returned, everyone gathered around for a small bon fire. They talked some more while drinking and refreshing their high a bit. As they did this, they laughed and began playfully picking on each other with some mild insults thrown in here and there.

Vinnie walked over to Hyde and pointed out the fact that he had his sunglasses on at night. This led to a few jokes about Hyde being blind, to which even Hyde laughed.

"So Hyde, why don't you ever take those off?" Vinnie asked "I'd like to see what you look like without them."

"No thanks. See, my eyes are adjusted to seeing with them. So if I were to take them off, I would barely be able to see your face." Hyde paused with a smile. "On second thought, that might not be such a bad idea." He removed his sunglasses and laughed.

"Oh! Burn!" Kelso exclaimed before laughing

Vinnie looked at him confused. "What?" He checked himself to see if anything was on fire.

Eric stepped forward to Vinnie. "Dude. Why don't you get some aloe to put on that burn!"

Vinnie gripped the sides of his head and squeezed his eyes shut. "I'm so confused!"

"Vinnie!" Donna laughed "Vinnie relax. They're just messin' with you. You know, a burn."

"What's a burn?" Vinnie asked, confused, though calmed down.

"Oh, well, I guess you could say it's like a midwestern rank. Only better." She said, laughing a little.

"Oh." Vinnie grinned. "Good one."

At that point, Hyde happened to notice that Horshack was uncomfortably close and staring at him. Hyde frowned and shoved him away.

"Get away from me spaz!"

"But Hyde." Horshack said innocently. "I was only admiring your hair. It ain't every day I see curly hair that nice on a white guy. Your afro is almost as nice as the one Freddie and Juan's got."

"Yeah, yeah, c'mere." Epstein said, waving Hyde over. "Hey Freddie what do ya think? His hair stand up to ours?" He asked as Hyde stood next to him.

Freddie stepped closer to them. He examined Hyde's hair. "Daaamn. Hyde for a white due, you've got a great afro. A white guy afro, but a nice one." Freddie laughed and then gave Hyde a slick low five. "That's coo' my white brotha."

Hyde smirked slightly. "Shows how much you know. I'm not completely white."

"What're you talkin' about?" Epstein asked with a skeptical frown.

"Yeah. I'm half black." Hyde replied, grinning a little.

"You?!" Freddie asked, surprised. He laughed. "No way are you half black!"

"You wanna bet?" Hyde reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet. He opened it up and took out a picture. "This is a picture of me with my biological father and my half-sister."

He showed them the picture. Freddie's eyes widened and Epstein's jaw dropped in shock. They then turned their heads in perfect unison to look at Hyde, further expressing their synched-up wide-mouthed surprise. Vernajean, full of curiosity, came over and looked at the picture.

"What are you two gawkin' about?" She looked closer at the picture and then gasped. "Hold up!" She snatched the picture from Hyde and then showed it to Freddie. "Boom Boom look at this! That's my cousin Angie!"

"What?" Freddie took the picture from her to take a better look. "Lemme see that." He took a few quick glances from the picture to Hyde before he started laughing. "Shoot yo' jivin' me! Hyde, man, you are related to my girlfriend!"

"What?' Hyde asked in disbelief, taking his picture back. "No way!"

"Yeah!" Vernajean laughed. "Your sister is my cousin Angie!" She pointed to Hyde's father in the picture. "Your daddy is my uncle!" She playfully slapped Hyde's arm. "You're my cousin!"

Epstein started laughing for a moment as he realized. He then looked at everyone with a bit of a reflective expression. "What a world we live in, huh? This guy's half black. I'm a Puerto Rican Jew. We've got Italians." He motioned toward Donna and Vinnie. "I'm guessin' Irish." He said while looking toward Eric and Kelso. "And Horshack here. He's one of a kind. And," he looked at Fez, "ah, whatever you are."

"Yeah." Eric said, dryly. "We're like a regular mini UN here."

"What about me?" Jackie spoke up, a little offended.

"You, well, you're something else." Epstein strolled up to her. "You are a princess." Jackie began to smile. "Real piece of royalty, y'know. And like any royal, you're also a snob. And a bitch."

Jackie's jaw dropped and she let out an offended shriek. She slapped him across the face before storming away.

Vinnie walked over to Epstein, a bit surprised, Horshack close in tow. "Epstein! What's gotten into you? That's the second time tonight she's slapped you."

"I am surprised at you Little Juan." Horshack added. "You normally treat girls better than that."

"I know I know!" Epstein replied in frustration. "I don't know what's wrong with me tonight. I'm out of my game." He shook his head and then placed his hands on his hips. "Something about her just messes with my head y'know? I knew the moment we met she didn't like me but I still had to try to get with her. Only I messed it all up."

"To be fair," Donna spoke up, "I told you she's a bitch. You should have listened."

"Yeah yeah yeah!" Epstein waved her off.

Kelso came over and wrapped an arm around Epstein's shoulders. "Listen, man. Let me tell you something about Jackie. It took quite a few slaps to the face from her before I finally got her to date me. Once you stop being stupid she'll stop being a bitch."

"When has that ever happened?" Eric asked with a laugh. "Jackie's always a bitch and you've worn that Green Bay Packer's helmet more times than I can count!"

"The stupid helmet." Kelso replied with a sad nod of his head.

"Hey, why are we worried about all this for?" Fez asked "Let's have some fun!"

"That's right!" Rosalie added "These guys only have a few more nights here. Let's make the best of it!"

That's all it took for everyone to get back to their fun. Their party continued for hours, until their fire began to die down. At the end of the night, they tried not to think about how they soon would have to part at the end of the week. They didn't want to think about the possibility of their new friendships ending because of being separated by several states. As bittersweet as it was, they waited to make the best of it. After all, they now had new, shared memories to cherish.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter six

The next few days was a whirlwind, full of memories. All of the teenagers knew they had developed what surely would be lasting friendships. And that was what made this last day so hard for them. As much as the Wisconsin gang wanted to stay, they knew that they had to go to their normal lives and responsibilities. It was only the start of summer and neither of them had any idea what was potentially in store for them. But they felt that, after this incredible week they just had, the rest of the summer just wouldn't measure up. At least they could say they were leaving happy, with great memories, and with a group of new friends.

Everyone gathered around the Vista Cruiser while they were getting it ready to leave. They talked for a little while, already reminiscing about the time they spent together. Part way through their conversation, they suddenly started feeling a bit melancholy. Donna smiled a little and tried to make the best of things.

"Hey! This doesn't have to be such a sad goodbye does it? I mean it's not like we'll never hear from each other." The others mumbled things, going along with her. "Look, some time if you guys find yourselves on a road trip our way, come hang with us. You guys showed us a good time here in Brooklyn. Least we can do is return the favor and show you guys a good time in Point Place."

"Yeah but most we got there is the Hub, Fatso Burger and the reservoir." Eric said

"Hate to break it to you guys, but Forman just gave away the tour of the town." Hyde remarked

"Don't forget that wall behind the high school where people go to do drug deals." Kelso added, trying to be helpful.

"What drug deals?" Eric snorted "You mean that one time Hyde hung out with Leo and Leo brought a bag of weed? That's not exactly what I call a prime spot for drug deals."

"Well that all sounds cool anyway." Vinnie said

Epstein frowned in confusion. "It does?"

Ignoring Epstein, Vinnie looked at Donna. "We'll love that. I'll call you up sometime. Maybe later this summer we can plan something. Long as your dad doesn't try to do his Tom Jones Impressions over the phone."

"Don't worry. He'll do them in person." Donna said

"A road trip sounds coo' and all." Freddie said "But won't be so fun taking a bus the whole way." He finished with a frown.

"That's ok." Donna replied "We might not live in a big city. But we can show you just as good of a time. I'm sure that whatever fun we have there will make up for however your trip was." She finished with a grin, before giving Vinnie a hug. "It's been great seeing you."

"It was fun with you also. But you'll be back next month right?"

"Oh yeah! I'll see you then!" She smiled and then got into the car.

Jackie gasped suddenly as something occurred to her. She practically jumped out of the car, brimming with excitement. "Wait! Wait!" She went up to the Sweathogs, smiling. "Before we go, there's something I want to give you." She pulled a piece of paper out of her purse and slipped it into Epstein's hand. "Here. Don't lose it." She kissed him on the cheek and then smiled at him as she went back into the car.

There was a collective shock amongst the entire group, especially in Epstein as he stood there with his jaw hanging low to the ground. He looked up, stunned, towards Jackie, unsure of what to think. She waved at him and then he awkwardly returned the wave before looking at the paper in his hand. He blinked and felt his heart and lungs stop working for a moment as he stared at what was written on the paper. He remained frozen, his eyes glued to the paper, and he blocked out everyone else as they gave their final goodbye.

As the Vista Cruiser pulled away, the other three Sweathogs circled around Epstein, each excitedly sharing their curiosity towards the paper in his hand.

"Well what she give you?" Vinnie asked

"Her phone number." Epstein looked up at them, still stunned, and a bit confused.

"Hey!" Freddie laughed and then slapped Epstein's back. "Way to go Epstein!"

Vinnie snatched the paper from Epstein's hand and then looked at it. "Awww. Isn't that cute? She dotted the I in her name with a little heart."

"Gimmie that!" Epstein frowned as he snatched the paper from Vinnie's hand. He put the paper into his pants pocket.

"So…" Horshack grinned. "How'd you finally get her?"

Epstein grinned proudly. "Well y'know…" His grin quickly faded into a confused frown. "If I knew, I woulda tried it a lot sooner."

…

In the car, Jackie smiled and happily talked everyone's ears off while they all stared at her. She continued gabbing, happily as could be, proud of herself for, as she put it, having the guts to give out her number to a guy she barely knows. Everyone continued staring at her as though she had lost her mind.

"Jackie." Donna said, gaining her attention. "I'm really surprised at you."

"What?"

"Jackie didn't you kind of hate the guy?" Eric asked with a slight, confused laugh at the end.

"I didn't hate him, I just didn't like the idea of him being practically foreign."

"Damn Jackie." Donna said "You didn't even give him a chance all week. You even slapped him. Twice. Not that he didn't deserve it. But then, out of nowhere, you gave him your number and you kissed him!"

"What's wrong with that?"

"Oh sure you give that guy your number and kiss him even though he's Puerto Rican. But you won't give Fez the time of day because I'm foreign."

"Yeah well I did what I did because as the week went on, I saw potential in Juan. Sure he's Puerto Rican, and poor, and lives in a rough neighborhood. But it's not likely we'll ever be seen anywhere where people know me. Thought I'd do him a favor and give him my phone number."

Eric snorted. "You might as well be with Hyde. Because, besides the rough neighborhood part, sounds like he has the same potential."

"Weren't you paying attention, Forman?" Hyde asked "She wants to be with Epstein because there's little to no chance of her snobby rich friends ever seeing them together."

"Exactly!" Jackie smiled. "Thank you Hyde!"

"Yeah well I still don't see why you would rather be with short dark and Jewish when you can be with me." Kelso said.

Jackie frowned, looking at him. "You had your chance Michael! Maybe if you weren't a dirty horndog cheating on me all the time, we could still be together."

"Yeah and she wouldn't have to trot all the way to Brooklyn for some dirty little street rat with nine brothers and sisters." Hyde laughed.

Jackie shrieked, offended. "He is not a dirty little street rat!"

"Yeah Hyde. He's called a Sweathog. Show some respect for Jackie's new boyfriend." Eric said before laughing.

Laughter filled the car, even from Jackie though she was hesitant at first to join in. Once the laughter died down some, they began talking, reminiscing about the week they just had with their new friends. There was also more teasing about Jackie's potential new boyfriends. The entire trip home, they knew that this was one they would never forget. They all agreed that they would do it all again in a heartbeat. Nobody knew what they future held for them and their new friends, but they were all happy with the time that they shared, and hoped for more times like this with them.


End file.
